Apparatus for perforating sheets



June 7, 1960 G. M. TRACY 2,939,356

APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING SHEETS Filed April 20, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 645/) M 7Z=4cy June 7, 1960 e. M. TRACY 2,939,355

APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING SHEETS Filed April 20, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTOR. i 54 J Gar/y 594a ArraewE/ June 7, 1960 G. M. TRACY APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING SHEETS 3 SheetsSheet 3 Filed April 20, 1956 a A R r J m m m m P, W m m a HH A, ON 6 w a A tn. 3. 1.! III N A w b 1 F: H haw 1 A MENU A w w I ll.

3 q 6H I Z A TE NN OH 0v 0 United States Patent APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING SHEETS Glen M. Tracy, Hempstead, N.Y., assignor to Swanee 1 Paper Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 20, 1956, Ser. No. 579,474

Claims. (Cl. 83-337) is passed. Said surface acts as an anvil having a rela- I tively hard surface. The sheet is passed over and in contact with said surface and a transverse knife or cutting edge carried by an upper member is placed momentarily in contact with the sheet at the line of contact of the sheet with the hard surface with a preloading pressure sufficient to compress the fibers. At practically the same moment, the base of the knife is tapped, thereby cuttingv through the sheet, giving an instantaneous shock to drive the knife through the fibers.

The energy of impact drives the cutting edge through the paper, thus giving a clean cut with smooth edges. The cutting effect spreads the fibers of the sheet slightly and usually forms a very narrow slot. It has a neat appearance and there are no ragged edges. The action is rapid even at the high speed of feeding of the sheet and even though a wide sheet is cut along its entire'width, the cuts are practically perfect.

The present invention utilizes the principles set forth in the pending application and is intended and adapted to incorporate said principles in an operative machine, it being among the objects of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the character described, which is adapted for high speed operation and also for use on relatively wide sheets of material.

' It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide a mechanism which may be readily assembled, which is highly effective in operation and in which it is a simple matter to replace broken, damaged or worn out parts.

i It is further among the objects of the present invention to provide an apparatus which requires but a small amount of energy for the cutting operation and in which wear due to high speed operation is minimized.

j The invention is intended to operate on relatively wide sheets of material to make a series of alined slits or cuts transversely of said sheets. To accomplish this an alined set of knives is provided, and a plurality of such sets is incorporated in the apparatus, so that high speed operation with large production is assured.

' In practicing the present invention there is provided a pair of rolls which are relatively long, one of the rolls being a perforating roll and the other being a bed roll, with means for rotating said rolls in unison. The perforating roll consists essentially of a shaft on which there are mounted a number of body members or spiders,

Patented June 7, 1960 which are in substantial contact end to end. Each of the body members carries a plurality of longitudinal countershafts, the latter carrying planet gears at their ends, meshing with a sun gear suitably mounted on the perforated roll. Cams are mounted on the countershafts and are in cooperative relation to cam followers mounted on said bodies. The followers terminate in hammers which are adapted to tap knives mounted in said bodies, said tappin'g being at the proper moment for cutting through the sheet material.

The bed roll is mounted usually below the perforating roll and consists essentially of a shaft with a plurality of cylindrical sleeves mounted thereon in end to end contact. The sleeves are keyed to the shaft. The inner diameter of the sleeves is greater than the outer diameter of the bed roll shaft so as to provide a rigid base or anvil to absorb the energy of the knives as they are tapped by the hammers.

In the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof and in which like reference characters indicate like parts, i

Fig. l is a front elevational view of an apparatus for perforating sheets made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view thereof taken along line 2-2 of 'Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale, showing the details of construction and mounting of the knives;

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

i Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged front elevational view of a central portion of the perforated roll, showing the mounting of cams and followers thereon; Fig. 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 6, and

a Fig. 8 isan end view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

On main shaft 1 is mounted the perforating roll consisting of a seriesof body members or spiders 2 in end to end contact; A planetary gear system is held in casing 3 at either end of the perforating roll. The end of shaft 1 is reduced, as shown at 4, and a sun gear 5 is mounted on said reduced portion. The sun gear is split along a diameter and has extensions 6 and 7 thereon. Said extensions are held together by bolts 8.. Said extensions constitute a bearing 10 as shown more particularlyin Fig. 8, andpermit free rotation of shaft 1 while sun gear 5 is held stationary.

A split sungear lock consists of a pair of blocks 59 and 60 held together by screws 61 and surrounding extensions 6 and 7. Said lock is secured to said extension by keys 62. The sun gear is held stationary by lock 59 -60 abutting against anchor 63. v

Each of the spiders has a central body portion -12 and a series of radial forked extensions 13 within which knives 14 aremounted for radial movement. There are two sets of holders 15 and 16 on said spiders for mounting countershafts 17 and 18. As shown in Fig. l, countershafts 17 extend into casing 3 at the right and countershafts 18 extend into casing 3 at the left. As shown more particuularly in Fig. 6, the ends of countershafts 17 and 18jare reduced as shown at 19 and are fitted with bearings 20 held incover plate 21. Bearings 22 are held in casing 3and planet gears 23 are keyed at 24 to shaft 19. Said planet gears mesh with sun gear 5. Cover 21 is held-in oil-tight contact with casing 3 by bolts 25. A standard oil seal 26 is provided.

rotatably held pin or pivot 28, on which is mounted the t to end cont-act.

replacing it"with a new sleeve." I

hub 29-of a cam followen A forked extension 30 terminates in follower 31, which in turn terminates in hammer 32. A coil spring under compression 34 is mounted between head 32 and recess.33 in central body 12. 'Haminer32 is adapted to contact with ortaphard ene'd metal 'inember35 mounted on the back of knife 14; A'cam '36 having a high portion 37'is mounted on count'ershaft 18. and is suitably keyed thereto. It is adapted to rotate in the direction of arrow 38; i g

Each'knife is held in position within a pair of forks 13 by plates 40 and 41 on opposite sides 'of the knife,

7 4 mounted for rotation, a plurality of countershafts parallel to said" central shaftand mounted on said body, a sun gear mounted on said central shaft at one end thereof, planet gears on the end of said countershafts and meshing with said sun gear, radially reciprocatable knives on said body, and means on said countershafts for periodically reciprocating said) knives, said body having 'a central portion, a plurality of radial extensions thereon,

said knives being mounted in said extensions.

and liavingknife edges 42; Pins-'43, passing through forks 13 also pass through elongated slots 44 in the body of the knife, allowing limited radial movement thereof. i

In recesses 45 are preloading springs: 46 in the form of coils. Stems '47 of block 48 fitwithin spr'ings'46' which exert preloading pressure on said blocks which embrace the-backsof'knives 14;

3. In a mechanism for transversely perforating sheets of paper an'dithe' like, a perforating roll comprising an elongated body, a 'ceneai'shaa on which said body is mounted for rotation, a plurality of countershafits parallel to said central shaft and-mounted-on-said body, a sun gear mounted on saidcentral shaftat one end thereof,

planet gears on the end of said countershafts and mesh- The bed rollconsists of a shaft having a reduced to one of these shafts. A series of relativelyxthin walled cylindiic'al'sleeves 54 are mounted on shaft 50in end In the operation of the apparatus, a sheet of material 58,'as shown in'Fig.;2, passesbetween the perforating At the under side of each of'the sleeves and bedrolls 'as they rotate in unison. Duringsuch rota:

V tion, each ofthe, cams 36 moving in'thedirection offar 1 row 38 gradually raises hammer 32 until it is at its maxicomes in contact with sheet 58, the highpoint 37 of the cam passes to'the left of follower 31, thereby releasing it and-causing hammer- ,32 to tapheadSS of knife 14.

s'uflicient to cut cleanly through the sheet. {I 'he movement of the knife causes it to contact sleeve 54-but since saidsleeve is mounted in a rigid mannentheenergy iniparted'thereto is extremely small so that the; wear on :the. sleeve isnegligible. i g v As the rollscontinue their rotation, the cams, followers and knives-come successively into the position shown at a the lower portion of Fig.2 to-exert the cutting or their A3, pulling out the knife, replacingiit with another one and reinserting pins 43. Similarlya cam 36 or a follower 31 maybe readily replaced. In the bed roll each ing with said sun gear, radially reciprocatable knives on said'body, and means onsaid'countershafts for periodically reciprocating said knives, said body havinga central portion," a plurality of radial extensions thereon, said knives being mounted in said extensions, a plurality of cam followers pivotedbn 'said extensions adjacent to said knives, the free ends of said followers being adapted to contact the backs of said knives.

4..In a'mechanism for transversely perforating sheets of paper and the like, a perforating roll comprising .an elongated body, a central shaftion. which said body is mounted for rotation, ,a pluralityfof countershafts parallel to said central shaft and mounted on said body, a sun gear. mounted on said central :shaft at one end thereof, planetfgears onthe'end of said countersh'afts' and meshingwith said sun geaagradially reciprocatable knives on said body, and means on said countershafts for, periodin um' height relativeto knife 14. Then asjthe knife Thisoccurs so rapidly that a clean cut-or slit is -madejn a the sheet 58,without ragged edges- While-theamountof energy imparted to the knife is only; a few pounds, itis .49

opening adapted to allow the entrance of the high por- 7 tion of said'cams. J g

i gear mounted on said] central shaft atone end thereof,

planet gears on the end of; said 'counterishaifts andrneshing with said sun gear, radially reciprocatable'knives on said body, and means on saidflcountershafts for periodically reciprocating said knives-, s aid' sun gearb'eing split 1 along its diameter, a lateral fextensionon said-sungear,

of the sleeves 54, if worn or .broken, may be replaced ,by sliding such sleeves on of one end of shaft 50 and .Iclaim':

1. Infa mechanism'for transversely perforating sheets ofpa'p'r' and the like, a perforating roll comprising an elongated body, a central shaft on which said body is end to'fend, .each'set having a plurality .of countershafts parallelto said central shaft and mounted on said body,"

a. sun" gear' mounted on said central shaft at each end 7 thereof, planet gears on the outer end of each set 5 of said countershafts and 'mesh'ing' with said sun gear,

; mounted for rotation, two sets of counter-shafts arranged and means for anchoring said extension against rotation. 6. 'In a mechanism for transversely perforating sheets of 7 paper and; the like, a perforating roll comprising an elongated body, a'central shaft on which saidbody is mounted for rotation, a plurality of countershafts parallel to said central shaft and mounted on said body, a sun gear mounted on saidcentralshaft: at one endthereof, planet gears'on'tne end of; said countershafts and meshing with saidsun gear, radially reciproctable knives; on said body; and meanson said countershafts for periodically reciprocating said knives, said 'body'having' a central portion, a plurality, of radial extensions thereon, said .knives being mounted in saidfextcnsions; a plurality of cam followers'pivoted on said extension the free ends of said followers constitutinghammers,- heads 'onfthe backs of'said knives, said.harnmersbeingadapted to contact said heads. 7

' 7; A mechanism for transversely perforating sheets of paper and the like comprising a bed roll mounted for rotation, means for passing said sheet over and in contact with said bed roll, a perforating roll mounted for rotation,

a plurality of cutting edges mounted in said perforating roll for limited radial movement, means for biasing said cutting edges toward said bed roll, hammers for said cutting edges adapted to contact the backs of said cutting edges, hammer arms mounted on said perforating roll for limited arcuate movement to actuate said hammers, means for moving said arms at predetermined intervals, and means for imparting potential energy to said hammers when they are in retracted position.

8. A mechanism for transversely perforating sheets of paper and the like comprising a bed roll mounted for rotation, means for passing said sheet over and in contact with said bed roll, a perforating roll mounted for rotation, a plurality of cutting edges mounted in said perforating roll for limited radial movement, means for biasing said cutting edges toward said bed roll, hammers for said cutting edges adapted to contact the backs of said cutting edges, hammer arms mounted on said perforating roll for limited arcuate movement to actuate said hammers, means for moving said arms at predetermined intervals, and spring means for imparting potential energy to said hammers when they are in retracted position.

9. A mechanism for transversely perforating sheets of paper and the like comprising a bed roll mounted for rotation, means for passing said sheet over and in contact with said bed roll, a perforating roll mounted for rotation, a plurality of cutting edges mounted in said perforating roll for limited radial movement, a pair of spaced springs in said perforating roll for biasing each of said cutting edges toward said bed roll, hammers for said cutting edges adapted to contact the backs of said cutting edges, hammer arms mounted on said perforating roll for limited arcuate movement to actuate said hammers, means for moving said arms at predetermined intervals,

and means for imparting potential energy to said hammers when they are in retracted position.

10. A mechanism for transversely perforating sheets of paper and the like comprising a bed roll mounted for rotation, means for passing said sheet over and in contact with said bed roll, a perforating roll mounted for rotation, a plurality of cutting edges mounted in said perforating roll for limited radial movement, a pair of spaced springs in said perforating roll for biasing each of said cutting edges toward said bed roll, hammers for said cutting edges adapted to contact the backs of said cutting edges, hammer arms mounted on said perforating roll for limited arcuate movement to actuate said hammers, means for moving said arms at predetermined intervals, and means for imparting potential energy to said hammers when they are in retracted position, said hammers contacting the backs of said cutting edges at points intermediate said pairs of springs.

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